The present invention relates to a video tape recorder/player capable of recording and reproducing two kinds of video signals of different aspect ratios.
Efforts have been made to develop wide-picture TV systems of increased aspect ratios among EDTV (extended definition TV) broadcasting systems which have been developed to improve the picture quality and presence of the current NTSC color TV system. In developing the wide-picture TV system, consideration is given to the compatibility of TV sets of the current NTSC color TV system
A wide-picture TV system disclosed in The Institute of Television Engineers of Japan Gijutsu Hokoku, vol. 12, No. 30, pp. 43-48 (Aug. 25, 1988) forms wide video signals (multiplex video signals) of an aspect ratio a.sub.1, for example, 16:9, (the aspect ratio a.sub.2 of the screen of the current NTSC color TV system is 4:3) by multiplexing image information in the right and left end portions (side panels). It is also possible to transmit video signals of an aspect ratio a.sub.1 obtained by cutting the upper and lower portions of a screen of an aspect ratio a.sub.2 (auxiliary signals are multiplexed in the upper and lower blank portions to improve the resolution).
The current TV sets are able to receive wide video signals obtained by multiplexing the side panels for forming a screen of an aspect ratio a.sub.1 and the auxiliary signals, and hence the wide video signals may be recorded by the conventional video tape recorder/player, i.e., a domestic VTR having a rotary head helical scanning system.
The conventional VTR is not constructed for recording and reproducing the wide video signals, for the identification of aspect ratio and for discrimination between the video signals of the current NTSC system and the multiplex video signals. Therefore, when the multiplex video signals are recorded and reproduced by the conventional VTR, the resolution is unsatisfactory because of the narrow recording band of the VTR or the reproduced picture is expanded heightwise or widthwise.